Getting Serious About A Virtual Assistant

Business getting a little rocky?

Relationships becoming ‘unseated’?

Too many details to ‘rassle‘ with?

Many small business owners start out with a great idea for a product or service and great intentions but quickly find that there aren’t enough hours in the day to take care of all the tasks that are required to run a successful business. The worst case scenario is that they discover they don’t have the skills to deal with the everyday demands on their own.

Before long, the relationship between them and their business, clients and prospects begins to suffer and so too, the bottom line.  If you are relating to this scenario, maybe it’s time to get serious about finding the right kind of help to move your business forward.  And a Virtual Assistant might well be the answer. Here are a few things to consider.

1.  You CAN Afford the Help:

I hear business owners saying that they can’t afford to outsource. I say you can’t afford not to.  If the time you are spending on details is taking you away from billable time or closing sales, then you are being ineffective.  Furthermore, the income you are losing could be paying for your VA.  

But choosing to work with a VA shouldn’t be about a ‘quick and dirty race to the finish‘ of that one-time task.  Instead you should be looking to find and build a lasting relationship with a Virtual Assistant who, as a professional business owner like yourself, has the necessary business experience, skills and industry knowledge to help you propel your business forward. 

2.  Virtual Assistants are more than data entry people.

It’s time to start looking at a VA as a valuable business partner.  They aren’t just filling in your excel spreadsheet with your stock items. They are acting as your Inventory Manager.  If you are involved in Social Media, they’re not just posting your blog, they become your Public Relations Representative or your VP of Marketing etc.

A good partnership with a Virtual Assistant can be like a well oiled dressage team. Each contributes masterfully. One excels because of the other. The magic comes from repeated long term effort on both parts to achieve success and will overtime, appear effortless.

3.  It’s OK to trust someone else with your business.

Finally, a good working relationship with a VA requires trust on both parts. VAs have an innate willingness to help you succeed in your business goals.  That’s why we do what we do! A good VA will help you leap over those obstacles.  A really good partnership means both parties know when to be the horse and when to be the rider.

What are your thoughts?

While physically located in Newmarket Ontario where Joanne lives with her family, as a VA, she is virtually yours anywhere….

The New Marketing Landscape

It continues to surprise me when people say they don’t understand the appeal of Social Media.  I can’t remember any job that I have ever had where relationship building wasn’t a key criteria to the success of the business relationship.  I remember back in the day (ok, I am dating myself  lol), where you would take your client to lunch. Business was definitely a topic for discussion, but so was family, vacation plans and hobbies. You actually knew their spouse’s name, how long they had been working at that organization and maybe even what their career aspirations were.  And through all that discussion and a few extra pounds, a relationship grew and trust developed.

Where has the trust gone?  I’ve watched the pendulum swing to the opposite extreme.. I am a participant in this new generation of consumers who buy products and services online without ever meeting the seller.  Money changes hands without a handshake.  I myself have been spammed and scammed.  Who are you really dealing with?  Can you trust it? I understand the wariness and I am tired of the lack of human touch. Maybe we all are.

And so, the pendulum has shifted to the middle.  Technology certainly isn’t going away, but at least with the introduction of Social Media, we now have the opportunity once again to connect, to build some kind of community and build trust. I welcome the change.  It doesn’t matter whether you are a brick and mortar company or sell your products and services online. Here is an opportunity to showcase our personalities along with our products and services.  As a Virtual Assistant, I am asking for clients to trust that I will be honorable, to act in their best interests, to help them grow their business even if I am not on-site under their careful watch. So, for those who are still wary, please follow me on Twitter, read more about me on LinkedIn and by all means become my friend on Facebook.   The tools are all there!  All it takes is a little time and a little trust. Let’s make that connection!

Joanne